Must-see attractions in Lappeenranta

Standing guard above the harbour, this hulking hilltop fortification was begun by the Swedes and finished by the Russians in the late 18th century. Today…

Every summer, around 30 sand artists from Finland and abroad gather to build the Hiekkalinna, a giant themed ‘sandcastle’ made from some 3 million kg of…

The cavalry are honoured as Lappeenranta’s greatest heroes and the 1772-built former garrison (the town’s oldest building) at the Linnoitus fortress tells…

Backing onto the runway of Lappeenranta airport (Finland's oldest still in operation), this extraordinary museum has three exhibition halls housed in…

Diagonally across the park from its own bell tower, the adorable wooden Lappee Church was built in 1794 to an unusual ‘double cruciform’ floor plan, the…

Focusing on the history of Lappeenranta – and of its two sister towns, Käkisalmi (Priozersk) and Vyborg, lost across the Russian border in 1939, this…

Built in 1826, this lovingly preserved Russian home was owned by the merchant Wolkoff family from 1872 to 1986, and its 10 rooms have been maintained as…

On the lakeshore, this sandy beach has an outdoor swimming pool, beach volleyball, a water slide and kiosk, along with the Myllysaari beach sauna. Hardy…

This art museum at the Linnoitus fortress has a permanent collection of modern paintings by Karelian and other Finnish artists. A large part of the space…

At the Linnoitus fortress, Finland’s oldest church was completed in 1785 by Russian soldiers and features a glittering iconostasis and other saintly…

In the central Sankarihautausmaa park, this evocative war memorial features poignant cubist and modernist sculptures commemorating Finns who died in the…